The 2008 EKIII Run for Eddie's Birthday, was August 1-3 at Hide-A-Way Lakes Campground on OH 84, southwest of Ashtabula, OH.

Twas a great opportunity for Eddie's friends to get together, spend time with Eddie and help him celebrate his birthday!

For more infomation:

Check out the EKIII Run Faq
Go to the EKIII Run Group on Yahoo!
Next year ... Just show up!

Eddie's father wheels Eddie to Eddie's Grill in Geneva-on-the-Lake during the 2004 EKIII birthday run
Photograph by Bill Garlinghouse

Aug 4, 2008 - Another great run. Eddie spontaneously laughed at what was going on around him. The new campground was a hit - That we didn't have to ride a mile to get to a plumbed restroom, and that the campground didn't smell like dead people were generally appreciated. Bear spent the weekend teaching Yo's bulldog to talk, food was consumed, lies told, those who didn't show up were talked about ... The weather cooperated ... Thanks to someone or another for putting it all together, and to all who made food and beer runs, helped Ann with Eddie, set up, cleaned up, kept the fire going at night to keep Grog warm ...

Pics of 2008 Run:

The Archives:

July 29, 2008 - A few other tidbits, the Giant Eagle grocery store 1/4 mile west of the Cedars Motel is open 24 hrs as is their gas station. The liquor store inside is open 10am to 8pm, Bank and ATM also inside.

There's a moderately priced Steak House near the Cedars within walking distance, also a 24 hr restaurant down the road. Another liquor store with unknown hours is near the US20 / Woodman Ave. intersection as is a 12-month Christmas Store in case Yo! wants to start his shopping early or purchase some new decorations. We all know how much he enjoys celebrating the Virgin Mary's chastity ;-)

The campground owners are pretty cool. They have no concerns whatsoever about drinking or noise as they expect to be helping us get rid of liquid evidence. They also offered to make beer runs if necessary should everyone be too tanked to drive.

The camp store has minimal offerings... cold drinks, ice cream and some odds and ends. The swimming pool looks inviting so I'm sure The Poser will want to bring his thong-Speedo.

A slight change in plans as to the specific camping locaation... last year when we scoped it out everyone generally agreed Club Area 1 was preferred.... lots of trees and grass, not too close to the natives and close enough to the bathhouse. When we were up a few months ago after some heavy rains Area 1 didn't look so swell anymore. We
figured we'd be better off with Club Area 2 right behind the bathhouse... not as many trees but level and dry. Area 2 currently has some campers in it that aren't going anywhere for a while. And now that everything's dry Area 1 is looking pretty good again. :::shrug::::

There's fishing available in some of the campground lakes as well as a paved bicycle trail adjacent to the property.

July 27, 2008 - Campground rates are 10 bucks per person for tent campers, 25 bucks if you bring a pop-up or other camper-type thing. I think he said the family rate was 23 or 25 bucks... Visitors are $4/day, under 2 y.o. free.

There should be a 1/2 cord of wood there by Thurs for early arrivals.

June 24, 2008 - Cedars Motel is offering the AAA rate for anyone regardless of AAA membership. The place appears clean with 24 hr grocery store (liquor store inside, limited hours), 24 hr gas and restaurants nearby. 2 miles from the campground.

Cedars Motel Nightly Rates:

  Normal Discounted
Single $65 $55
Double $80 $65
Triple $95 $85

They've also got something called a "quad" that's got 4 or 5 beds in it for those interested in group fun. Normal rate is $130 / night..... I didn't ask about the discount rate on that one. Tell 'em you're there for EKIII and mention my name for the discounted rates. 440-992-5406

Also checked the Ho Hum Motel...... it appeared... well, ho-hum. The clerk was disorganized and didn't seem to know what hemisphere he was in. Didn't check the rooms although the office was less than impressive. Tom Barrett has stayed there and described 'em as adequate. The Cedars Motel would be my first choice.

The Cedars has 17 rooms. They were mostly wide open for EKIII weekend a few weeks ago although they get a lot of fishermen staying there on weekends. If it fills up and the Ho Hum isn't your bag there's numerous motels at the OH45 / I-90 Interchange at Austinburg where many stayed when we were at Buccaneer. About 5 or 6 miles to the campground.

Hide-A-Way Lakes Campground changed hands last Fall. The new owners are a younger guy and his brother and appear real easy to get along with. I wouldn't be surprised to find 'em in the midst drinking our beer. I'll be in touch with them this week regarding rates for the group.

There's 2 group areas they refer to as "Club" areas. One has numerous trees and is very shady, somewhat closer to the RV campers. The other has some shade but more spread out... *real* close to the bathhouse. The more heavily shaded area in Club 1 was generally favored by those that looked over the place last year. Looking at it a few weeks ago there's a ton of depressions from old campfires that were full of water and tree roots galore. Pretty challenging to find a place to put up a lot of tents. Club 2 is flatter with more soft grass and a large open area for parking cars and bikes. The trees are more spread out but tons of good tent spaces. Electric and water at both. After consulting with a few folks that looked the place over last year I'm reserving the Club 2 area which relieves the need for a special trip a week in advance to cordon off the area. Plus the campground has a connection for wood delivery so that's one less thing to screw around with.

Maybe I'll "just show up." Then again, maybe not.

January 7, 2008 - Been playing phone tag with Ann Kieger for a coupla weeks now. Her voicemail told my voicemail that this year's EKIII Run will be the 1st weekend of August... 1st, 2nd & 3rd.

New venue, as discussed, will be Hide-A-Way Lakes Campground on OH 84 southwest of Ashtabula. 84 is also known as South Ridge Rd. and a part of the route we used to get to Broadfield the last few years.

For those that've been to Buccaneer, OH 84 parallels I-90 on the *north* side. Exit at OH 45 at Austinburg.... that's the exit with a bunch of chain motels that some used when we were at Buccaneer. North to OH84/S. Ridge Rd., east on 84 2 1/2 miles and look for the yellow campground sign on the right.

For the non-campers the closest motels are the Cedars and the Ho Hum Motel on US20. The Cedars would probably be my first choice, it's about 1 1/2 miles from the campground, 24 hr restaurant and grocery store nearby. Pretty sure there's a liquor store in the grocery store :)

The Ho Hum <yawn> is another mile or so down the road. Both have a clean, neat appearance and I'd expect either to be priced much more reasonably than what's available around GotL. I'll be talking to both places in the next month or so to see if they have any interest in offering a group rate. Oughta have more info on the campground by then.

Pics from 2007 Run:

Chilly's

Pics from 2006 Run:

Big Stinky's
Big Piper's
Dp's
Terry H's
Chilly's
Steve Shein's
Rand McNally's
Mike in PA's

Pictures from the 2005 Run:

Group shot of 2005 EKIII Run Participants

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